


Keep Your Neck Out Of The Red

by rangerdanger985



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bigotry & Prejudice, Daryl Dixon Needs a Hug, Daryl had a hard life, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Self-Esteem Issues, Will add tags as I think of them, but chapters will be tagged appropriatly, her name is jude, its gonna hurt, judith is daryls daughter, keep an eye on notes, lil asskicker still applies, self-depreciating daryl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24922786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerdanger985/pseuds/rangerdanger985
Summary: Daryl Dixon was a rough-looking man, with torn jeans and sleeveless shirts and a bikers vest with the motorcycle to match. people avoided him and his scowling face.Jude was a sweet little girl, six years old with bright blue eyes and pale blonde curls with an angels smile, she was the sweetest thing in all of Greene county and everybody loved her.and currently, Daryl was crouched in front of the little girl, talking in low tones and offering her candy.or:Daryl has a lot of opinions about himself of the not great kind and his daughter is the best thing that ever happened to him but they were so different from each other and people love jumping to conclusions.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Comments: 56
Kudos: 159





	1. assumptions hurt, they never help

**Author's Note:**

> Don't expect this to be updated quickly as I'm just playing with it, writing it in my spare time and between other works but its an idea that wouldn't let me go, after all, Eric said it best.
> 
> Daryl would make a great dad.
> 
> also, just a reminder to mind the tags because people have 'opinions' about daryl and like saying them and they aint great.
> 
> Enjoy!  
> RD

Daryl Dixon had on a sleeveless shirt, leather vest, torn jeans, and biker boots. His overly long hair partly hanging in his scowling face and his large arms were tanned and had a couple of tattoos. His hands were noticeably callused, even from a distance, and hung loosely at his sides like the rag from his back pocket.

The girl at his side, no more than six or seven years old, wore blue shorts under a frilly white sundress and had bouncing blonde curls than hung in her face and clear blue eyes that darted around inquisitively wherever she was, her face always hosting a cherub’s smile.

The random onlooker would be concerned, almost scared at the sight of the innocent girl standing with the rough-looking man, not automatically assuming the obvious until they saw the girl holding his hand, chattering a mile a minute and calling him papa and wiggling a sliver of a smile from Daryl’s scowling face as he looked down at her.

But on occasion, even this wasn’t enough to dissuade some people, especially the snobbier bunch from judging the scene for what they thought it was, especially when Daryl was crouched in front of the little girl talking in low tones and giving her a piece of candy.

Beth an onlooker to the most recent incident knew the reason behind it, having met Mr. Daryl Dixon in passing and knowing exactly who they were to each other, Jude had aced her most recent exam, not difficult given the girl was scarily smart and mature on occasion, and he was giving her one of her favorite soft caramels in congratulations and promising to take her out to get dinner that night.

Other student's parents however saw a rough-looking man giving candy to a kid and struck before thinking marching up to the cute pair to demand what he was doing.

Sensing the threat this person posed Daryl had stood up, gently nudging his daughter behind his legs while facing what could only be called an attack.

Now Jude was a nice girl, sweet as the candy she loved and fiercely protective of her father, she also had a mouth on her that would make most sailors proud.

So, when this parent started berating Daryl and all but calling him a predator she leaped forward “don’t you dare talk about my father that way when you don’t even fuckin know him!”

The woman was shocked silent, and Daryl didn’t even look surprised, it actually looked like he wanted to smile but was fighting it as his girl went on the attack.

“I swear," the girl said, hands on her hips and looking much older than her age with a southern drawl coming out that nearly put her father to shame, the drawl was the only thing Beth could see she got from the man “this school preaches acceptance and knowledge and the moment ya'll see someone ya think don’t belong ya just have ta go and attack them"

Jude was winding herself up but stopped when her father reached down and picked her up. Placing the girl on his shoulders “calm down ya Lil ass-kicker" now Beth saw the reason for the name.

The girl had a fire in her.

Seeing the mother getting ready for another barrage, face red with anger Beth finally stepped forward, after all, it was a teacher’s job to protect their students, and that included the student’s parents.

Even from other parents apparently “Mrs Williams" she called, making both adults look at her, Daryl appeared to be judging whether or not Beth was coming to attack as well but she didn’t really look at him “you know very well adults are screened before being allowed on campus and also that Mr. Dixon is Judith’s father, I don’t think anyone, including your son, appreciates the scene you are causing"

She kept her voice honey-sweet, inserting herself between the two and keeping her hands folded, the picture of friendly despite her less than friendly words.

The woman Mrs. William’s huffed as if she had been wronged and marched off, allowing Beth the turn to Mr. Dixon and take a step back when she realized how close she was to him.

“I’m sorry about that Mr. Dixon," she said genuinely and saw him mutter something while looking at her from under his hair.

Jude scrambled slightly and he let her down as she spoke “call him Daryl Mrs. Greene" she said while straightening her sundress “that Mr. Dixon stuff is weird and makes him sound old when he ain’t old, at least not _old_ , old”

Daryl looked down at his daughter, lips pressed into a thinner line than they had already been in and grunted “Judith” he warned but it sounded more fond than it did disapproving to Beth.

The girl shrugged and unwrapped her candy, popping it into her mouth “he isn’t old” she rolled her eyes while saying it as obviously this was a thing between them “also what was that lady thinking” the girl appeared to still be steamed about the altercation.

Beth didn’t blame her.

Crouching down to be at the girl’s eye level she smiled at her “some adults are just really weird like that” Beth glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was nearby before mock whispering “most are just dumb; they still think I’m a student”

The girl barked a laugh which made Beth smile before someone called from behind her “Mrs Greene?” she turned her head to see the principle, an older man with kind eyes, standing at the door of the school.

Standing back up Beth looked at them “sorry again Mr. Dixon, have a good day you two” she turned and moved back towards the school “its Daryl!” Jude called after her, making her father sigh.

Daryl dropped a hand to the girl’s shoulder “c’mon” he said and started steading his daughter towards his truck “you're still puttin a quarter in'a jar when we get home” Daryl said and heard Jude groan in exaggeration “papaaaaa” she complained “I was defending your honor”

The man rolled his eyes “m’honor don’t need defendin” he said in amusement.

Beth smiled, hearing this conversation, and wondered when she’d get to see Mr. Dixon, get to see Daryl again.

She didn’t expect it to be the very next day.


	2. curb your impressions, they nearly never ring true

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was actually two chapters and I'm short on time so will review it again later hope y'all enjoy

Children are easily impressionable, the scene from the previous day had made parents talk, both in shame of the parent that had attacked Daryl and in disgust of the, as they called him ‘redneck with no place in decent society’

Among other things.

So, thinking these things were alright to say and lacking the situational awareness to notice prejudice when they see it, even in their own parents, they start making their own opinions and spreading rumors.

Sometimes these rumors reach the ears of a child with just enough spite to do something about them.

This such child just happens to be Mrs Williams's son, embarrassed by the previous day's altercation and having to deal with his mother's berating about ‘you best keep up your work or else you’ll turn into that’ he painted a target on Jude.

It happened in the middle of the school day, Jude had been talking to her friends RJ and Hershel, Beth’s nephew, when Thomas had shown up with his group of friends and started making fun of Daryl, calling him names and berating Jude for even thinking she was good enough to be there.

Now Jude could deal with being bullied, didn’t really care when people called her names because she could throw them right back and usually more creative names to, but again Jude was fiercely protective of her father.

So, when Thomas made fun of Daryl, she gave him a hell of a tongue lashing. Realizing he was outmatched in the verbal sparring department he tried the physical way and punched Jude square in the face.

The situation grew out of hand from there as Jude had been raised to defend herself and so lunged at the boy.

Teachers came rushing at the sound of the commotion and pulled them apart, Beth took Jude, carrying the girl to her class and looked at her, her ponytail was askew, and her nose was bleeding.

Her bottom lip was also stuck out and starting to tremble “oh sweetheart” Beth said, taking the first aid kit from her desk drawer “what happened?” the girl was sniffling now but Beth wasn’t sure if it was because of her injured nose or because she was about to cry.

Could have been a mix of both.

“Why are people such assholes” she asked, now usually when one of her students cursed Beth would gently remind them that it is considered a vulgar habit and that a child shouldn’t use that sort of language at such a young age.

But this time she’d let it slide “oh I don’t know sweetie” she said honestly, pushing hair away from the child’s face and holding a piece of gauze under her nose to stop the blood that had already spotted on her blue shirt.

Beth wasn’t completely positive it was her blood, to be honest.

“I’m sure the principal called your father, why don’t we wait in here until he shows up?” the girl nodded, looking at the floor and refused to talk.

A few minutes later Daryl Dixon came barging into the classroom like the devil himself was on his ass and the moment Jude saw him she launched herself at him, Daryl knelt and swept her up into his arms, his face twisted into a harsh scowl.

Anyone else would say it looked pissed, but Beth could see the fear in his eyes “w’appened” he asked, partly muffled in the girl’s hair he was looking at Beth for an answer, but the explanation came from the little being clinging to him for dear life.

“a kid was making fun of you and said nasty things and when I out talked em he punched me” now there was anger in his face “what?” he asked, jaw clenching “it ain’t fair” Jude leaned back, hands fisted in her father's shirt “whys everybody gotta make fun of ya, yer the best dad in the world”

The heat died in Daryl’s eyes and he pulled Jude back into his chest partly to comfort her but Beth saw it was mostly so the girl didn’t see the pure shame that lit up his eyes, startling blue and bright with the knowledge that this was his fault.

His eyes flicked up to Beth “c’n we go?” he muttered though it wasn’t much of a question as he was already standing up, Jude still held to his chest. Beth nodded “I’m sorry about all of this” she felt herself saying as the man turned to leave.

He looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head, long hair hiding his eyes as he did “s’fine” he said and walked out of the classroom.

Beth felt compelled to follow the man, she wasn’t sure why, but she felt like it was so no other parent harassed the already stressed man. Apparently, the principal had the same idea and fell in at her side flanking Daryl and glaring at anyone that looked at him funny, be they child or teacher alike.

“Judith’s not in any trouble,” the principal said after Daryl had placed Jude in his truck “it's easy to see on the cameras that Mr. Williams antagonized her and she was just defending herself, why not take the next few days off, have a long weekend”

Daryl looked at the man, lips a thin line and nodded with a grunt, about to round the truck when there was a screech from the left “that’s him!” they all turned to look at none other than Mrs Williams, marching toward them with a cop trailing behind her.

“that man assaulted my son! Broke his nose and knocked out a tooth!” Beth’s brows rose, Judith really had put the hurt on that boy if she had caused that much damage the sheriff tilted his head, hands resting on his belt in a relaxed manner.

He didn’t look very concerned “is that so?” he asked, keeping his eyes on Daryl who had his hands fisted at his sides like he was physically restraining himself. “yes! If he could do that to my boy imagine what he’s doing to that girl”

She jabbed a finger at the cab of the truck where Jude sat, watching from the back window, that was enough of a threat to make Daryl open his mouth “I ain’t touched nobody, specially no kid!”

The sheriff rose a hand and Daryl shut his mouth with an audible click “you're saying Daryl Dixon assaulted your son, in the Greenville county middle school?” he asked, and the woman nodded “arrest him!” she demanded and the sheriff walked forward until he stood between both, looking at Daryl for a minute before turning back “this man” he pointed at Daryl and looked at the woman.

She nodded in frustration “yes!” the sheriff hummed “the same man who, until” he looked at his watch “8 minutes ago, was working on my cruiser at dales autobody shop on the other side of town?” the woman went pale suddenly and Beth tried not to laugh “at least” the man continued “he was until he got a call that his daughter had been attacked in the school hallway by another child”

The sheriff rose a brow at the woman who was now extremely pale before looking at Daryl “broke more than a few speed limits on the way here to” he gave Daryl an amused look, but the man just shrugged, not taking his eyes off the threat of the woman.

Not until the window of his truck rolled down and Jude stuck her head out “hi uncle rick” she said in a nasally voice the sheriff, rick, smiled at the girl “hi darling, get back in the truck alright?” the girl pouted “I’m in the truck” Daryl turned his head and whatever expression he had made her duck back in the window and roll it up.

“uncle” the woman said in shock “yes now, if your quite done spinning your little tales Mrs Williams, it is my professional opinion that you leave the Dixon’s the hell alone before I bring up a child endangerment and harassment suit against you, the only problem here, is you” the man was very blunt and didn’t hold his tongue “honestly, who lets their child think it's ok to bully someone, let alone punch a little girl”

Rick shook his head “now if that is all, I’m going to go see my son, then I’m going to finish getting my breaks replaced” without further comment, the man walked passed both Beth and the principle and into the school in search of his son.

“Mrs Williams if you would follow me” the principal said in a honey-sweet voice even though his usually kind eyes had become quite cold “we need to have a discussion about your sons future at this institution, specifically what you need to do to make sure it doesn’t end” he turned and the woman followed behind him like the child she had been acting as.

This left only beth, Daryl and Jude who was pouting in the truck. Beth opened her mouth to speak but the man beat her to it “don’t apologize” he said, almost sharply but she didn’t take offense to it, instead, she rose a brow again and smiled a bit “I was going to say” she started “that I hope Jude feels better soon and to have a great weekend”

Daryl looked at her, sharp as anything and she almost shivered at how bright his eyes were before he lowered his head and nodded once then turned and walked around the truck and got in.

Jude waved from the window and Beth returned it, standing there until the truck was no longer visible before walking back into the school.

~

When Daryl and Jude got home, they were quiet, all the way until Jude launched herself into Daryl’s legs and hugged him tight “I’m sorry people are stupid, but I love you” she said, and it nearly brought Daryl to tears.

He brushed his fingers through her hair “Luv ya to, lil ass kicker” his daughter grinned up at him and he managed to smile down at her even though it wasn’t completely honest.

After he checked to make sure she wasn’t seriously injured, and it was just a nosebleed and a small cut on her lip he retreated to his room not unlike she had retreated to hers and fell back onto his bed.

Staring at the ceiling he couldn’t help sighing, feeling like a failure because his daughter, one of the few good things in his shitty life, was being bullied because of him. His ghosts rose up to try to tell him that he was a failure, that it was no wonder she was getting picked on, and that he was pathetic for thinking it wouldn’t happen.

That he was a shit father just like his own old man was.

Not that he needed his ghosts to say it, after all, he could tell himself the same shit and had been for years but that was the thing with ghosts, they didn’t care what you knew, they just wanted you to hurt.

Turning on his side he pillowed his head on his arm, a depression nap sounded really good right now.

Because nap, and you know, depression.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

He’d been so scared when he’d received that call, that his daughter had been hurt on his watch. His heart was still pounding, and his back hurt like a bitch.

Daryl almost didn’t hear his door open, but he did notice when a small body crawled up onto his bed in front of him, without opening his eyes he shifted to his daughter could lay her head on his arm and dropped his other arm over her back.

“love you papa” she said, sounding far too sad for his usually cheery daughter and he opened one eye, looking at her and lifting the corner of his mouth in a smile “love you to kid”

After that the room was quiet and as father and daughter napped Daryl’s heart slowed down, he finally relaxed.

Judith was safe, no matter what else when she was close he knew she was safe, maybe that was why she called into his bed to nap with him.

He smirked sleepily and cuddled his daughter closer.

She was smarter than she looked.


	3. maybe i wanted to see you to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, I lied, have another chapter because I am having WAY to much fun writing this.
> 
> also just as a forewarning, I am going to start getting into Daryl's scars in a couple of chapters and, ugh, it makes my heart hurt so mind the tags in the chapter summaries started next chapter.
> 
> enjoy!  
> RD

Friday afternoon Beth found herself driving down an unfamiliar street on the way to none other than Daryl Dixon’s house with a bag in the passenger seat holding the few assignments that Jude needed to finish within the next week.

If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t know what she was expecting when she got close to his address. She honestly didn’t want to admit to expecting anything, the man had suffered enough assumptions about himself in the last few days, but she really wasn’t expecting what she saw.

The address belonged to a cute little two-story house with a garage and a wraparound porch. It wasn’t just because of the address that she knew it was the Dixon residence, she also knew because Jude was sitting on the front steps.

Parking in front of the house, she grabbed the bag from the seat and got out. Jude, looking in curiosity smiled when she saw Beth “Mrs. Greene” she jumped from her seat and bounded forward.

As she got closer Beth noticed the girl had some bruising on her face from the fight, mainly on her lip and nose, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by it, didn’t even seem to notice it actually, she just seemed happy to see Beth “hey Jude” she greeted the girl who stopped just shy of her “what are ya doin here?” the girl seemed happy if confused.

“well I don’t know if you’ll like the reason” she teased, crouching down to her eye level “I brought the work you missed” the girl's grin was replaced with a frown as she groaned in distaste “hey now” Beth reached out and tapped the girl's chin “smart as you are, it won’t take you more than an hour”

Beth dropped her arms over her knees “is your father around?” she questioned.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, a voice came from the house “Jude, who ya talkin ta?” Daryl Dixon, Beth pushed herself to her feet to look towards the front door and nearly swallowed her tongue.

Any of the other times she had seen the man he was rough in appearance first in the biker getup and then when he came to pick up Judith after the incident, he had been wearing jeans and a work shirt with dales logo on it.

Both times he had more than his fair share of oil and grease on his arms and a bit on his face, hair messy and hanging in his face but now he stood there, barefoot and with a flannel over his tank top.

His sweatpants were aged and he looked comfortable his hair parted out of his face and the longer strands tucked behind his ears allowing her to see a good deal of his face and so even if his eyes didn’t change and his lips remained their thin line she saw his brows arch up in surprise at her presence.

“she brought me homework papa” Jude called with a pout walking up to the porch with the bag Beth had given her in her hands Daryl tore his eyes away from Beth who had trailed up behind the girl to look down at his daughter, grunting slight “s’at so” he muttered and reached out to rub the girls head.

Jude squawked and ducked making Beth smile and she saw the man's lips tug up as well “spose ya better get started then eh?” the girl groaned like she was dying, head falling forward in defeat before turning “thank you Mrs. Greene” she didn’t sound very thankful but Beth appreciated the effort “your welcome Jude”

The girl ducked around her father and speaking of the man crossed his arms and leaned in the doorway, a relaxed position but also one that kept Beth from gaining entrance to the house.

Guess he was just as protective of Jude as she was of him “ya didn’t have ta do that” he said, voice rough but not angry or disappointed, Beth was pretty sure he just didn’t talk to people much “I know” Beth said and folded her hands behind her back, rocking back on the heels of her boots “but I wanted to”

That brow rose again but in curiosity now “s’at all?” the man was too perceptive for his own good and Beth sighed “and I wanted to check on Jude” she saw his lips thin further, his arms bunching “she’s fine” he sounded aggravated.

Beth reached up and pushed a few strands of hair back to her ponytail “I know, your little girls tough, and smart, one of the best in my class” she looked up at him shyly “I may have wanted to check on you to”

That surprised him.

His arms slacked and she was sure if he hadn’t been leaning against the doorway he’d have stumbled. Beth bit her lip to keep from giggling, sure it wouldn’t be received well, especially not when his cheeks were already coloring faintly.

He turned his head, re-crossing his arms and hid under his hair “'m fine” he muttered and she smiled glancing to the side “I know, but I still wanted to see it for myself” silence fell between them for a few moments before she heard something shifting and looked up to see Daryl standing up from his lean “c’mon” he nodded inside and she smiled but he didn’t see it as he retreated inside, leaving the door open.

Walking up the porch she stepped across the threshold and closed the door, noticing how the shoes were neatly stacked she started toeing her own off before Daryl’s voice even called from the kitchen “shoes at t’door”

She didn’t know why she couldn’t stop smiling, maybe it was his obvious decision to trust her, even when she knew he didn’t trust easily, or maybe it was the warmth that surrounded her upon entering the home, the same kind of warmth she felt when visiting her father's farm.

The kind that you didn’t feel on your skin, but in your chest, wrapped around your heart like a hug. Stepping around the corner she found Jude sitting at the kitchen table with papers spread out in front of her.

Daryl was standing at the counter but turned around after a moment, glancing up at her before sitting a glass of what looked like tea on the table across from where Jude sat so the condensation of the glass didn’t stain the papers.

He quickly turned away making Jude look up and wiggle her eyebrows, making the man grunt and tap the paper in front of her “thank you Mr. Dixon” Beth said as she picked the glass up, gingerly sitting at the table as he returned to the counter.

She heard him mutter and saw Jude roll her eyes “papa” she said, sounding both amused and exasperated.

The girl was far to mature for her age.

Daryl grunted then cleared his throat “it’s Daryl” he said a bit louder “told you” Jude said, drawing Beth’s eyes away from the man’s back “Mr. Dixon makes him feel old” so she hadn’t been joking about that.

“well Mrs. Greene makes me feel like my mama, so just call me Beth ok?” she aimed the statement to both of the Dixon’s and Jude grinned at her “ok” the girl said, and Beth noticed the other man nodding.

Silence fell again but it wasn’t uncomfortable, Beth was used to the quiet just the same as she was used to the noise, being a teacher required diversity, after all, so she sat watching as Jude worked on her homework, chewing at her bottom lip in thought as Daryl remained at the counter, working on something.

Beth glanced up every little bit to study him before turning her eyes back to Jude, she didn’t honestly know why being called Mr. Dixon made him feel old, while true his hair did glimmer in places and his goatee had a dusting of silver he looked good for his age.

Which made Beth realize she didn’t know how old the man was.

She wanted to ask but didn’t want to be rude, especially not when he finally turned around and laid a couple of plates on the table, he had been making lunch. The silent man laid a plate in front of her and put the second within Jude’s reach but out of the way of her work before turning back to the counter.

He returned to the table and started to sit down just in time for the girl to make a noise of aggravation to which Daryl grunted in question.

Beth noticed he seemed to do a lot of communicating like that “this math question” Jude replied as if the man had spoken before looking up at him and batting her eyelashes “do you know the answer papa?”

The tricky little girl.

The man looked up and rose a brow before leaning over to glance at the question at hand, something about trains or plains, but it was Beth that spoke “you underline the information you need to turn it into a simple equation”

She smiled at the girl who turned her head to look at Beth who knew exactly which problem the girl was having a problem with.

Judith was extremely smart for a 2nd grader and she was very good at math, enough so that she could advance a grade with it if she wanted to, but when words were tossed into the numbered problems it usually tripped her up. Scooting closer Beth saw her guess was right, every other question had been answered excluding question 12.

“how do I know what’s important and what’s bull-” Daryl’s sharp grunt made the girl stop, glancing at him and his narrowed eyes before looking back at Beth “what’s not important” she finished and Beth folded her arms on the table leaning forward in a relaxed slump that put students at ease “what do you think is important?”

Daryl sat back and watched as Beth walked his daughter threw the math problem, thankfully sparing him as he sucked at math.

Distracted he almost didn’t hear his phone ringing.

Digging it out of his sweats he saw it was dale and stood up, excusing himself to go answer it.

Beth glanced up at his retreating back and subtly shifted so her ear was turned toward where he had gone.

She didn’t hear much but she did hear two distinct phrases “can’t get someone else” And “ain’t got a sitter” before he moved further away. She heard the stairs creak slightly under his weight and turned back to the work Jude was doing, gently correcting her as she saw the girl working a problem incorrectly.

The girl had just finished the last of the math work when Beth heard Daryl coming back down the stairs and turned to look at him, he had traded his sweats for jeans and his flannel had been replaced with the work shirt from dales.

He was also chewing at his lip, brows furrowed in thought. Standing from the table Beth walked to the doorway, leaning against the wall beside it so as not to block the man's path to his daughter “Daryl” her voice surprised him, making him look up at her “I couldn’t help overhearing a bit of your conversation is everything alright?”

Daryl grunted glancing away and looked like he wanted to scuff his foot against the floor “tough job came in, old man ain’t got no help” Beth nodding having suspected that “if you need a babysitter I could stay” his head shot around to look at her, shocked and she hurried to continue before he shot her down.

“I mean I don’t have any plans and to be a teacher you’ve got to be good with kids” a grunt stopped her mid-word vomit and her mouth snapped shut “you’d do that?” his voice was quiet and raising her gaze let Beth see how he was looking at her, lips thinned and eyes suspicious and she didn’t know what made her say what she did next.

“only if it’s alright with you and Judith” it seemed to be the right answer though as the suspicion left his eyes as he continued to look at her then his eyes shifted down to her side as Beth felt hands grab her arm “please papa?”

Beth looked down at Jude who was facing her father with the biggest pout Beth had ever seen.

How long had the girl even been standing there?

Daryl grunted but somehow this one sounded like amusement; how many different grunts did the man have?

“a’ight” he agreed and as Jude cheered Beth looked back at Daryl and saw him smiling, just the faintest upturn of lips but it had Beth pausing at the lightness in his eyes.

But it disappeared the moment he noticed her watching him, like shutting blinds he hadn’t meant to open he turned away to collect his boots.

He was an odd puzzle, but Beth was sure she'd figure him out.

Eventually.


	4. puzzle pieces out of place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there are some hints of an abusive relationship but its only a sentence or two, as previously mentioned I expect this to get dark in a couple of chapters so mind the chapter summaries as they will hold any warning for the update.

A few hours later Beth was looking around while Jude laid on the Livingroom rug with a book open in front of her.

Beth was looking at the photos hung on the walls some of which had a man she had never seen before sitting on a bike or holding a younger Jude, some of them were of sheriff rick with his son RJ another boy which had to be his other son and a woman Beth had seen pick up RJ on occasion.

Some of them had Daryl in them holding the girl through different stages of life, one of them had him with his arm over the other man’s shoulder in a type of hug while both wore vests.

Apparently, this was his brother “that’s uncle merle” Jude’s voice almost surprised her, and she felt caught for a moment until she saw Jude was sitting up watching her with an amused expression that was 100% her fathers.

“he’s not around a lot, he got in trouble and had problems when he was young, he’s gotten better since then but he likes to travel, always comes around on holidays” Beth tilted her head “oh yeah? Bet he brings lots of stuff from his travels” Beth turned back to the photos and one, in particular, caught her eyes, in it, Daryl looked younger, his hair was cropped short and his goatee wasn’t greying, and he sat in a hospital.

He held a bundle in his arms, almost protective of it and he was looking at the camera, a soft smile on his face but it didn’t look right, his eyes looked dull and his face was scratched.

Now that she thought about it a few of the photos from Jude’s first years had him with the same expression and despite Ricks's wife, there were no photos of any woman.

Where were the photos of Jude’s mom? The first photo looked like it had been meticulously altered to crop out as much of the area to the right as possible, but Beth could just make out a woman’s hand, with brightly colored nails resting on the edge of the chair Daryl sat on, it almost looked like he was leaning away from the hand.

Beth hummed and it seemed the girl was very proficient in understanding the sound, unsurprising as it was her father's main way of communicating, and she spoke “mama, wasn’t a nice person” she sounded reluctant and it made Beth turn around, the girl now looking at the floor.

“she, tried to take me when I was younger” Beth approached and sat on the floor in front of her, reaching out to smooth the girl’s hair “Judith,” she said making the girl look up “it’s alright, I don’t need to know”

The girl sniffled slightly and nodded looking back down again and silence fell.

Beth thought that was the end of it until the girl spoke again “papa doesn’t think I know he’s not my real papa, but I do. I don’t care either he’s my papa even without that” Jude sounded upset, so Beth pulled her gently into a hug “that’s all that matters” she soothed the girl and quickly thought of something to change the subject to.

“do you know how sheriff Grimes and your dad became friends?” she questioned “they don’t seem like,,, the kinds of people that usually become friends” she was trying not to point out the differences between Daryl and the sheriff like others most likely bluntly said aloud.

Beth was raised with manners.

The girls giggling told Beth she chose the right subject “you can call papa a redneck, he doesn’t mind, he’s proud of it” the girl shrugged then looked up, more than comfortable sitting against Beth's side “and they met when uncle rick shot papa in the head”

She couldn’t have heard that right “what?!” she cried in shock making the girl laugh louder “I’m serious, uncle rick needed papas help because papa is an awesome tracker, someone ran into the woods and it was getting dark and one of the others got jumpy and shot papa”

The girl giggled “it’s a funny story” Beth was sure it almost wasn’t, being shot in the head wasn’t anything to laugh at but Daryl had obviously made it into one, so his daughter wasn’t traumatized by it.

“How old were you at the time?” the girl shrugged “three or four I can’t remember”

Later that night when Jude had fallen asleep on the couch Beth sat and thought.

To be shot in the head Daryl had to be a tough son of a bitch.

Even a graze could be a bad injury, especially in the woods.

What else would she learn about the man?

~

It was almost 10:30 when Daryl returned to the house almost dragging his feet as he walked inside and kicked off his boots, his hands and arms still stained with grease along with a bit on his face.

“welcome back” Beth greeted, making him jump slightly, obviously having forgotten she was there. She pretended not to notice the surprise or his reaction “Jude went down about an hour ago” she answered the question before it was spoken “get cleaned up and I’ll make you a cup of coffee”

The man grunted, looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes before dipping his head and turning away, walking up the stairs slowly.

When he returned he seemed speechless at not just the cup of steaming coffee sitting at the table but also the plate of food, he just stood in the door way for a minute, staring before glancing at her and ducking his head, muttering his thanks before sitting down and tucking into the plate.

Beth waited for him to be mostly finished before speaking “so your daughter told me something earlier” Daryl’s eyes glanced up at her through his fringe before focusing back on his food, grunting in question.

“did sheriff grimes really shoot you in the head?”

His sudden snorting surprised her, and it took her a moment to realize it was a laugh “nah” he said, sounding amused which was a good sound even if it was at her expense “rick didn’t pull the trigger, t’was a local PD”

Beth watched him reach up and push the hair away from the side of his head, tilting it so she could see the pale scar that disappeared into his hair line. He then proceeded to tell her an extremely shortened story about how he had been called in for his tracking skills because someone kidnapped a girl and ran into the woods while armed.

“was getting dark, m’own damn fault fer not warnin ‘em I was comin up, popped up behind rick an next thing I know ’m in the hospital” he was fighting a smirk, she could see him hide it with a sip of coffee “th’lady, Andrea, still sends ‘sorry I shot ya’ cards on m’birthday”

Now Beth was smiling, it was an amusing story the way he told it but there was something she wondered “did you find her? The little girl I mean” the shift in his jaw and the way he adjusted himself in his seat told her this was a part of the story he didn’t want to share “yea” he muttered, staring at the table and not explaining further.

She knew when to let a subject drop and so just nodded and stood up, taking the empty plate from where he had pushed it aside and turned away to place it in the dishwasher, turning the machine on before turning back toward the table to see him quickly look away.

There was just the faintest trace of color at the tips of his ears that made her smile “I should start home, it’s starting to get late and you look exhausted” he grunted in reply, but she was starting to get used to that.

He stood up and followed her to the front, watching her walk onto the porch and crossing his arms while leaning in the doorway “thank ya” he finally managed to say after standing there for a minute, watching her admire the deepening night and almost making her jump with the suddenness of it.

Turning back to the man she folded her hands in front of herself and smiled at him “it wasn’t any trouble, you needed the help and I was there” he glanced up, hair parting for just a moment for her to see his eyes and it made her think for a moment that maybe he was thanking her for more than just being an emergency babysitter.

She glanced to the side, rocking back on her heels for a moment before looking back at him “let me see your phone?” he looked carouse now, raising a brow before digging into his pocket to pull out the device and hand it to her, already unlocked.

She didn’t let herself coo at the fact that his background was a picture of his daughter, instead opening his contacts and putting her own number into it, sending herself a message so she could do the same later.

Finished she handed the device back to the man and smiled “in case you need help again” she said gently before turning, not missing the awe that sparked in his eyes as he looked at her from under his hair.

“goodnight Daryl, get some rest” she waved over her shoulder while walking toward her car, just barely hearing the gentle “goodnight” muttered from behind her.

Beth didn’t know why but her heart was beating wildly on the drive back to her home.

Alright, maybe she did know why.

She just didn’t want to admit it.


	5. lets have dinner

Bright and early on Monday morning Jude was back at school and tackled Beth with the hug the second she saw her. Beth wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t turn down the affection from her favorite student.

When the girl muttered thanks against her shirt though Beth was very confused and was about to question the girl before she stepped away and rocketed down the hall to find her friends.

All Beth could do was call after the girl to stop running and be careful, shaking her head fondly when it seemed the girl either didn’t hear her or didn’t care, she could be forgiven though, after all, she hadn’t seen her friends in days.

When the day was over and Daryl came to pick his daughter up the other parents kept their distance, but they didn’t cause a scene and that was all she could ask for.

Beth smiled at the man who glanced up for a moment before ducking his head and muttering to his girl who glanced back at Beth amused.

She was starting to think that the man wasn’t so much an asshole as just shy.

Either way, she didn’t hear anything from the man until Wednesday, the school was about to let out and she had just finished her last class for the day when she got the call “that offer still up?” she recognized Daryl’s voice and had to think for a moment to figure out what he was talking about.

“to help? Of course, what do you need?” she pinched the phone between her ear and shoulder while packing up her papers for the day “I gotta work late, could ya take er’ home for me?”

Beth smiled and straightened up, to think a week ago the man hadn’t even trusted her on school property and now allowed her to take his daughter home “of course, when do you think you’ll be getting off?” not that it mattered to her, an excuse to spend time with her favorite student was more than enough reason to stay however long he needed her to, besides maybe she’d learn something else about the stoic man.

“couple hours at the most” she nodded while walking toward the front of the school “no problem, I’ll see you when you get home” she didn’t think about what that sounded like and heard a grunt from the other end of the phone “thank ya, Beth” she smiled “your welcome Daryl”

After he hung up and she was looking for Jude it hit her, that was the first time he’d used her first name.

She was grinning when she found the man’s daughter and she didn’t even care.

~

Daryl came home about 6 pm and Beth smiled at him from her seat at the kitchen counter, she had a couple of stacks of paper in front of her and his daughter sat across from her, the girl was working on something in her book and hadn’t noticed Daryl’s return yet.

Looking at Beth who had just opened her mouth to speak he lifted a finger to silence her, making her pause and raise her brows in confusion. He knew the woman was watching him, but he couldn’t make himself care as he snuck around the table from Jude’s side on silent feet.

Beth was confused and curious as she watched the man walked around the distracted Jude who was hunched over some history homework, she had been very vocal in her displeasure of before buckling down to read and answer the questions.

Daryl stopped behind the girl and looked over her head to see what she worked on, waiting for the girl’s pencil to stop which it did after a moment as she seemed to feel someone watching her.

When she lifted her head is when he struck, leaning down and lifting the girl from her chair in a single move that had the girl squealing, surprised at first but then it changed to a laugh as she struggled against her father who had his arms firmly around her middle “papa” she giggled, kicking her feet and squirming as the man bounced the girl twice before putting her down only for Jude to spin around and tackle him.

“you surprised me” she tried to act like she was complaining but her smile was too large.

Daryl looked down and tuck her hair behind her ear “y’looked bored” he said, lips twisting up into an unapologetic smirk.

Beth watched the interaction and almost felt like she was intruding until Daryl looked at her “thank ya, for the help” he said ducking his head after looking at her for just a moment.

“it wasn’t a problem, it gave me a chance to catch up on my grading” Jude let go of Daryl to look at her “why don’t you stay for dinner in thanks” Daryl rose a brow down at his daughter while Beth snuck a glance at the man “I wouldn’t want to impose” Beth started but the girl hurried to talk again “you’re not right papa?”

Daryl opened his mouth to speak but Jude was still talking “besides he’s making venison tonight, have you ever had it? it's so good and you can finish your work to” Beth smiled in amusement and put a hand against her hip “you just want to see your scores don’t you”

The girl looked bashful for a moment which made Beth laugh, a sound that caught Daryl attention “you’ll find out tomorrow when you get your work back but if the offer is still there and your father is alright with it I wouldn’t mind staying for dinner”

Beth turned to Daryl who was still looking at her, making him look away quickly and shrug “if ya want” he muttered, and she nodded “alright” she settled back into her seat and Jude grinned her expression shining and Beth could see the girl was planning something.

She just didn’t know what.

~

Seeing as how she was imposing, she insisted on helping with dinner, Daryl didn’t put up that much of a fight about it but that could just be because Beth used her own form of puppy eyes.

She was around kids all day she had to learn something.

Seeing as how the steaks which he had set out when he returned home for lunch that day, would cook quickly they worked on the sides first, potatoes and fresh snap green beans that according to Jude who was sitting at the counter and watching them, rick had brought over from his garden.

Beth hummed, thinking about officer rick “he doesn’t seem like the gardening type” she said before shrugging “guess that just goes to show you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” she was more saying it for Jude but heard Daryl grunt from his place, peeling potatoes with a knife.

She never understood how people were able to do that given when she tried there was more peel than potato “uncle rick also gave us the venison, he got it last time he went out hunting with carl” Beth kept her comment of that sounding like rick to herself, instead glancing at Daryl while continuing to rinse and snap the green beans, snapping the ends off

“do you do much hunting Daryl” she watched as he almost fumbled the potato in his hand, not expecting her question “bit, when I got time” he was almost halting with his answer “most places are overworked now” she bit her lip as she turned off the tap and picked up the colander to drain the beans.

She was thinking about something then just shrugged “well, my daddy has a farm on the edge of the county, few hundred acres for cattle and orchards, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you went hunting in the woods there”

Daryl was staring at her, she could tell even before looking to meet his gaze and smile “they keep getting to his apple trees so I’m sure he would thank you for it to” he just blinked at her before ducking his head and nodded, turning his gaze back to the roots in his hand.

“There is just one condition though” he seemed unsurprised by that and grunted while looking at her “I get a couple of the steaks after you have it processed, daddy loves venison”

That made his lips twitch like he wanted to smile “I’ll think bout it” she nodded as well, and silence fell. Glancing back at Jude, Beth saw the girl smirking and was confused as she hid it, ducking her head and turning away.

As Daryl finished dinner Beth finished her paperwork, Jude had finished her homework and was catching up on some of her reading and warmth bloomed in her chest watching the girl chew on her lip in concentration.

Then she looked up at Daryl who had tucked his hair away from his face again and looked completely relaxed once again in his sweats and rolled up flannel and the warmth in her chest spread.

She didn’t think too much about it.


	6. Maybe it's more than dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentioned child abuse, alcoholism and drunken violence. spoken about in passing.

Dinner was delicious and without even thinking dinner became coffee over which Jude told some of her father’s more interesting stories with the man himself either rolling his eyes, ducking his head or gently correcting her and in exchange, Beth told some of her own stories of which there was a surprising amount.

Before she knew it, the night had stretched on and it was already nearly 11, they had moved from the kitchen to the Livingroom and Jude was sitting on the couch leaned against her father’s side sleepily.

Beth was about to excuse herself for the night when Jude posed a question “wha was it like, growing up on a farm?” Beth looked at her mostly empty cup and smiled before putting it on the coffee table from where she sat in a chair.

“oh, about like you’d think, wake up early to help feed the animals, get ready for school then come back to help daddy with any repairs before settling down to my homework. I remember that mama and I use to sit on the porch or the swing under the tree and watch the sunset”

Beth looked somewhere in the middle distance between them, eyes sparkling with memory and a soft smile tugging at her lips “I remember I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen when I was little, see the sun would set over this patch of pine trees and just before it sank below them it would hit a lake on our property just right but it would only show up for a second.

“it was so red and bright; it made the water look like it was on fire” Beth looked down smiling at the memory “is it still?” Jude muttered the question while half asleep and it made Beth look up, her eyes being automatically drawn to Daryl who was looking down at Jude fondly and holding her close to his side, mouth quirked and eyes soft.

She quickly looked away when his gaze flicked back up to Beth herself “I can’t say that it is, but it's close” Beth stood up and pushed the strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ears “it’s getting late and you look exhausted, I’ll see you tomorrow Jude”

The girl hummed and nuzzled into her father’s ribs making Beth chuckle quietly before raising her gaze to look at Daryl “thank you for dinner” she said, feeling suddenly bashful as their eyes met “thank ya fer your help today” Beth folded her hands in front of her and rocked onto the balls of her feet.

“you don’t have to thank me for that, I always loved babysitting my cousins and your daughter is amazing” Beth bit her lip before she said something she’d regret, but glancing at the man showed that she didn’t have to say it out loud.

Feeling her face grow warm Beth turned away “anyway it's getting late and I should start home, goodnight Daryl” she fled without thinking much about it, pulling her shoes on and gently closing the door behind her, only barely hearing his own farewell in her escape.

It wasn’t until that night that as she laid in bed that she realized she left her bag and all her graded work behind at Daryl’s house.

Sone of a~

~

Come morning, fully expecting to have to admit her blunder to the principal, or maybe hiding it with the claim of not having everything graded and somehow finding a reason to go collect the bag when Jude walked up to her pouting, a tan satchel in her hands.

“you forgot this miss Greene” Beth could see the girls pout hid her amusement but she was too relieved to have the bag back to mention it “oh my god thank you Jude” Beth took the back and looked at it for a moment before looking back at the girl “your dad didn’t let you see your scores did he?” it wasn’t a question so much as an amusing statement and the strengthening scowl made Beth giggle.

Reaching out she ruffled the girl's hair, not unlike her father would do “don’t worry, they aren’t bad” the girl smacked at Beth’s hand “that don’t mean there good either” Beth rose a brow at the girl who sighed and rolled her eyes “doesn’t” she said and Beth giggled before nudging the girl.

“get on to class now, bells about to ring” the girl nodded grumpily but Beth didn’t take it to heart because she knew the girl was being overdramatic.

Turning to her own classroom Beth sat at her desk and opened her bag to pull out the tests for that period but paused when she found a post-it note that wasn’t in her writing. It was scribbled out as if written in a rush and the writing itself was messy, but it made her belly flutter, and her lips pull into a grin.

A simple message ‘Tuesdays are spaghetti nights ~D’ it was almost like a note written to remind oneself of something, but she knew exactly what it was even without the letter scrawled at the bottom. Pulling a post-it note of her own off her stack she jotted down a note of her own and put it inside of Jude’s 98% quiz.

‘I’ll bring the cheese. ~B’

~

Over the next few weeks, she and the Dixon’s fell into a habit, she'd go to their house on Tuesdays and suffer through the father's amused glances and the daughters teasing at the addition of mozzarella to her plates of pasta while also occasionally stepping up as a babysitter when Daryl’s bailed or he had to stay late for work.

She grew close to both, or well closer, and as such she grew protective of them both. The principle did pull her to the side when he noticed it during the third, not because it was interfering with her work but so he could tell her to be careful.

Beth didn’t know why, and she didn’t question it at least not until she went to the faculty break room for some coffee a few days later and heard a couple of other teachers talking about the Dixon’s in an unfavorable light.

She tried to stay out of it but got pulled into it without any choice “Beth would know, she’s taken quite a shine to Judith” a brunet female teacher named Samantha said. She was newer and liked to gossip, Beth tried to stay away from her more than the rest of the teachers “know what?” she questioned but immediately regretted not ignoring it.

“that he’s a violent alcoholic, rumor has it that he beats his kid but doesn’t leave any marks” it was said in such a flippant way as if Sam didn’t care about the answer, already believing what she wanted.

Beth was speechless as was the other teacher a young woman named Tara who was subbing history “I mean you know how he is right? Banned from every bar in the county and arrested more than a couple times” she couldn’t listen to any more “would you shut up!”

The woman stared at her and Beth would admit it wasn’t he finest moment but she was too angry to care, she could feel her hands shaking “what right do you have to make those accusations, to spread disgusting rumors about a man trying to raise his daughter despite what everyone keeps saying about him?” her whole body started to shake and she had to physically restrain herself “your right about one thing, I have taken a shine to Judith because she is a brilliant student that loves her father and that’s all we need to know”

Sam huffed, faking insult “I’m just concerned about the safety of one of our students” the woman was mocking the school, Beth didn’t realize she was moving forward until Tara intercepted her “no you’re not Sam” the woman said, giving the woman an unimpressed look over her shoulder.

“you’re just looking to start shit” Tara took Beth’s arm and led her out of the room.

Leading her into an empty classroom Tara stood in front of the door while Beth started pacing, physically shaking and raking at her hair “are you ok?” she asked after watching her for a minute

“no, how can she think” Beth waved a hand “that about one of the sweetest most caring men I have ever met?” Beth stopped and sat in the desk chair “all I've seen Daryl do is provide for his daughter, rushing here for his daughter taking all of the vulgar things people say about him and dealing with it all so his daughter doesn’t have to hear it or see it”

Beth bit her lip until it hurt and she could taste blood squeezing her eyes shut “so he’s Daryl now huh” Beth glanced up to see Tara looking relaxed and smirking a bit “you got a thing for the local redneck Greene” Beth felt the blood rush to her face “that isn’t the point!”

Tara laughed “sure, listen I was around when the youngest Dixon was pulling that shit” the woman waved a hand “and yes he did have issues but to be honest most of the shit he got into was by bailing his brother's ass out of it, can’t say the man doesn’t love his family”

She seemed amused for some reason, but Beth didn’t feel like it was her place to ask “what are you trying to say?” Beth was weary to ask.

Tara looked at her, normally cheerful face before dreadfully serious and her voice losing its amused edge when she spoke “Daryl Dixon is a good man, always has been but his daughter has made him even better, but he can also be like a wounded animal when someone corners him or crosses him”

Beth’s confusion was mounting “huh?” she questioned but Tara shook her head “don’t cross him” was all the woman said before turning away and leaving the classroom.


	7. We've all got reputations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so in other news, I went swimming the other day at the local lake/pond/river/WTFE and scraped the crap out of my legs, y'all know shale is sharp?
> 
> mentioned past character death on both sides along with dropping out. Next chapter the story starts to deserve its warnings so keep an eye here for warnings.
> 
> or stories about my stupidity lol now if you'll excuse me, Imma ice my legs.

Beth couldn’t make her hands stop shaking so she went to the principal’s office, always a kind man he let her leave early even though he didn’t believe her claims of feeling sick, she just scurried out of the office and retreated to the parking lot, sitting in her car for a minute before pulling out her phone.

She was dialing before even thinking about what she was doing, and the call connected before she could gather enough of her wits to hang up.

Beth heard a grunt before a voice spoke “damn Greene” Daryl Dixon’s voice spoke “ya know I pulled a late shift, wassit?” he sounded tired, voice half-muffled as if he was talking into a pillow

It took her a moment to realize it was Friday and another moment to remember that he had indeed pulled a late shift the day before. Actually, it hadn’t been a late shift, he’d worked a morning shift to drop his daughter off at school then got just enough time to take a short nap before being requested to come in again and work a second entire shift.

He hadn’t returned home until after midnight and Beth had known this because he’d nudged her away when he finally returned because she fell asleep on his couch.

Apparently, she was quiet for too long because he sounded much more awake when he spoke again “Beth, fucks goin on? Jude a’ight?” he sounded like he was moments away from jumping out of his bed and racing to the school, worry tainting his once-sleepy voice and bringing out his southern drawl

“yes, she’s fine, everything’s fine” Beth rushed to say to which the man grunted. Beth heard something rustle over the line and guessed he turned over in bed “y’sure? Ya don’t sound right”

Beth bit her lip, drumming her fingers on the wheel “yeah, I just” she paused and took a breath “can I come by? I’m leaving to school a bit early today and was hoping I could talk to you” she flinched at the way that sounded and opened her mouth, to say what she had no idea as the man spoke before she could “sure, l’make coffee”

She didn’t want to sigh but couldn’t help it “alright, I’ll be there soon”

Hanging up she drove to the man’s house, kicking herself the entire way but she felt like she needed to get some things sorted in her own brain, all of the conversations she’d had that day along with what she had noticed herself over the past few weeks painting two vastly different images in her head.

She needed to find which one was the correct one before it drove her insane.

And she would prefer Jude not to be witness to it in case it got ugly.

~

She didn’t bother to knock when she arrived at the Dixon residence just the same as she hadn’t for the last week and she kicked her flats off at the door, padding barefoot towards the kitchen where she found Daryl, his hair was smooshed and he was wearing his favorite sweats but the flannel was missing leaving him in just the tank top.

He looked exhausted as he glared down at his coffee and she felt guilty for a minute until he glanced up and the lines around his tired eyes eased a bit and he nodded at the counter without saying anything.

Ducking her head, she walked and made herself a cup, he always brewed it strong when he made coffee, it had shocked her when she first tried it and her reaction had pulled an actual laugh out of the man.

Glancing back, she found him looking out of the doorway at some middle distance, blinking slowly in his sleep-deprived state and she distantly realized she’d never seen him without sleeves before.

Not true she had in passing when he picked Jude up in his motorcycle outfit as she dubbed it but she never got a close look from the side, nearly behind him and from the way he was leaning she thought she saw a pale scar on his ribs under his arm but he moved before she could focus on it.

Shaking her head, she walked to the table and sat down staring at the coffee more than drinking it until Daryl grunted “what” nearly jumping at his voice she looked up, brows risen in question to find the man looking directly at her.

It was a rare enough occurrence that it made her brain blank as Tara’s comment about having a thing for the local redneck replayed in her head. Daryl rose a single brow, hair partly falling into his eyes as the thin line of his lips twisted slightly, it felt like in amusement,

Or exasperation, Beth couldn’t quite tell a difference between the two yet.

“What did they say bout me. Some’ins got ya tied up in knots girl, guessin it's bout me since ya here” he sounded like he was expecting it and it caught her off guard “it’s just” Beth looked down and folded her hands, ignoring the coffee “a new teacher is causing trouble, spreading rumors and it’s just”

She clenched her hands around each other “what right do they have to do that, it’s not right” she was getting angry again “happens” she jerked her head up to look at the man who was looking over her shoulder, staring into the middle distance again “what?”

“said it happens every few months r’so” he shifted his head to look at her and he really looked tired now, more than just physically but mentally as well “I got a reputation girl, it ain’t all talk but I ain’t never laid a hand on a kid or someone that ain’t deserve it”

Beth reached up to rub her head “well yeah, we’ve all got reputations but that doesn’t mean people can just spread rumors or other bullshit they have no right to be doin. And why are you calling me girl?” she was working herself up over nothing, but her small outburst seemed to amuse Daryl who folded his arms on the table and leaned on them, the faintest trace of black ink visible on the inside of his right arm.

“What kind of reputation you got? Skippin church?” she frowned at the man until she realized he was teasing her, the shock of it didn’t register at first because the man hadn’t even been able to look directly at her when they first met now here they sat.

Him teasing her while she gently kicked his shin under the table “I’ll have you know I was a rebel when I was a teenager Mr. Dixon” she pretended to be insulted “really?”

He didn’t believe her; she could tell he didn’t believe her.

She didn’t really blame him; her sister had been the real rebel of the family.

“I used to sneak out all the time” he rose a brow spurring her on “and I was drinkin when I was 16” well drank, it had only been the once, but it got a snort out of him “dank wha? Juice?”

Beth looked down at her coffee tracing her finger around the edge “peach schnapps” she heard a gentle thud and looked up to see the man leaning his head against the table “Daryl?” she was vaguely concerned until he spoke “yer firs drink was, peach schnapps”

He sounded pained.

She was insulted.

“it is a perfectly fine alcohol”

“it’s a pussy drink, ain’t nobody’s first drink supposes ta be a pussy drink” she huffed and crossed her arms “and nobody’s first kiss is supposed to be under the bleachers”

“mine wasn’t”

Beth sighed and leaned on the table as he sat back up “I’m surprised, you seem like that sporty type” the man snorted and leaned back in his seat, appearing relaxed as he studied the wood grain of the table “Nah, never hat time for that, wasn’t much for school either, after my ma died”

The man reached up and scratched his cheek “burned down the house when she did, didn’t seem to importan after that” silence fell between them and Beth watched Daryl, well aware that she stood on dangerously thin ice with the man, that this was a very halting glimpse into his life and if she made the wrong move he would draw back into himself.

What was that tare had said? That he was like a wounded animal when cornered? She had no intentions of doing that “my mama died when I was 13, car crash, took my brother to” without thinking she started rubbing her arm, fighting away old memories she didn’t want to face “we’ve all got our scars” she muttered to herself and heard a snort from the man but didn’t question it as silence fell between them.

It was only broken when she restated her earlier question “but why do you call me girl?” she furrowed her brows at the man, changing the subject to a much safer one that made the other roll his eyes “it’s what ya are ain’t ya?” he rose a brow over his coffee cup “well yeah but I’m not 12” she rolled her eyes and missed his smirk “boy” she shot back at him making his smirk turn into a scowl.

“34 ain’t no boy” so that was how old he was.

“yeah and 23 ain’t no girl” she copied his drawl and he gave her an unimpressed look but there was something else in his eyes, yes there was exasperation and amusement and fondness but there was also something else making his eyes glimmer.

Something that made heat rise in her face and something feel light in her belly, Beth couldn’t put a name to it, but it had her feeling suddenly shy until the man yawned that is and the feeling was ruined.

She ducked her head to hide a giggle before glancing back at the man who had returned to blinking slowly, like a cat.

“I probably need to let you get some sleep before its time to pick up Jude” she said and started to stand up as he lifted a shoulder in a shrug “pro’ly won't” he said it in such a relaxed manner that it made her pause as she didn’t really want to go just yet, she still felt shaky.

She chewed on her cheek for a moment before speaking “if I’m not keeping you up, would you mind if I stayed for a bit?” Daryl ducked his head but shrugged his shoulder again “f’ya want” he muttered before standing up “but I ain’t stayin sittin here, makes my ass itch after a while”

The sentence was just so Daryl that it made Beth shove a hand against the mouth to stop the laughter. He gave her a knowing look through his hair, but he was smirking a little, so she didn’t think he was offended, it had too much fondness in it.

Beth suspected the man did it on purpose because she knew exactly how observant the man was.

Either way, he walked to the living room and fell onto the couch, back shoved into the corner and leg folded on the cushion as he flipped the tv on some mindless show, leaving an obvious space for Beth.

She took it without thought, pulling her legs up beside herself, accidentally bumping Daryl’s leg.

He only grunted and didn’t look away from the TV.

It was only a few minutes later that she noticed his leg stretch out and nudge against her own and she looked over to find he had fallen asleep again “not gonna sleep huh” she muttered before standing up and walking over to the recliner, taking the throw that was tossed over the back of it and laying it over the man.

He grunted softly and shifted his head where it rested against his arm but didn’t otherwise move.

Beth couldn’t resist reaching out to brush aside his hair, tucking some strands behind his ear before leaning down to kiss his brow, just beside the scar from being shot in the head.

She didn’t think about what she’d done until she was looking at the titles on the bookshelf across the room but once she did her face flamed, the intensity of her blush almost making her sweat.

Tara’s words once again echoing in her head.

‘ya got a thing for the local redneck Greene?’

She very god damned well might.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for a panic attack in the first half, I didn't put much detail in it and I think its fine but meh

Daryl snorted himself awake at three and looked around blearily, mind groggy from sleep he heard pages flipping somewhere.

Expecting it to be Jude, keeping him company as he napped as had become her habit in recent years he grunted and rolled over, looking to stretch out his legs on the couch when they bumped into something soft.

Blinking in confusion he looked at the other end of the couch to see a blonde that wasn’t his daughter looking at him with fond amusement.

“Morning sleepy head” shit that was Beth.

Blinking in confusion he didn’t know what she was doing there at first, his brain unable to focus on more than a single thing at a time and currently it was focusing on the fact that his feet had nudged under her legs where they were pulled up beside her on her corner of the couch.

He grunted, acknowledging her words even if he couldn’t quite comprehend what she had said yet “w’time s’it” he muttered, reaching up to rub his eyes with one hand, not otherwise moving “just after three” Beth spoke, keeping her voice soft “you’ve got plenty of time to wake up before going to get Judith, want some coffee?”

Daryl grunted again, dropping his hand to his middle and blinking at the ceiling, it usually didn’t take him this long to wake up around someone, not that he usually fell asleep around anyone aside from his daughter, or merle when he was in town.

“Nah, not t’shit ya make, s’fuckin water” he muttered, blinking at the ceiling as he heard the woman huff, Daryl would be worried about offending her if it didn’t sound amused “well my brand of coffee doesn’t have the word ‘death’ in it, so forgive me for compensating”

The woman closed the book she had been reading and placed it on the bedside table “having coffee strong enough to double as brake cleaner when your finished drinking it cant be healthy” she shifted and put her feet on the floor, making him realize his own was still nudged under her thigh but she didn’t seem to mind.

His mushy brain didn’t either, his feet were cold.

Daryl grunted again when unable to think of a response and scratched the back of his neck before folding his arm behind his head and exhaling through his nose, eyes slipping closed again.

Until a hand dropped to his leg, patting his calf and his popped open in surprise as he had apparently started to doze again. Wide eyes shot to Beth as he finally put the pieces together of what was going on.

He suddenly felt trapped, like her hand which was barely touching his leg was a million pounds, a chain holding him in place.

She seemed to realize something was wrong because she removed her hand but kept a smile on her lips “come on” she coaxed in what had to be her teacher's voice “your daughters waiting and I need to get home” he didn’t say anything, didn’t even grunt but watched as she stood up slowly and turned away “I’ll make some coffee”

It sounded like an olive branch, but he still didn’t say anything, not moving until she was out of sight in the kitchen, only then did he sit up, turning to put his feet squarely on the floor and then drop his face into his hands, breathing deeply and cursing under his breath.

~

Beth noticed how Daryl’s lightly sleep flushed face went pale just after she touched his leg, noticed the way he froze up, going stiff as his eyes went wide behind his hair.

She hadn’t really minded his feet being shoved under her leg, her sister use to do it all the time and she had felt his feet were cold even through her pant leg he hadn’t seemed to mind either but then again he had still been half asleep, groggy even as they barbed at each other about coffee.

When going to school to teach children she’d had a mandatory phycology class and one of the main chapters in the book had been how to spot abuse in a student.

It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together in her head from the stories she had heard and what little she had noticed when around the man, along with what Jude had told her about her mamma not being a nice person.

Along with what she had seen just barely peeking out of his shirt earlier, it was obvious his background was a dark one. She wasn’t entirely sure why she had made him feel suddenly trapped.

Not entirely true she had put her hand on his leg which he could have seen as her pinning him. It would explain why he didn’t react like that the few other times she had touched him or bumped him with her him during spaghetti nights.

Beth was pulled from her thoughts when the subject of them grunted from the doorway, she hadn’t even realized she had been staring at the coffee pot. She jumped slightly in surprise and turned, pulling out a smile when she saw Daryl standing in the doorway, looking at her through his hair again.

“sorry” he muttered before turning his eyes back to the floor “m’jus tired” he offered a feeble excuse for his reaction and she watched him closely, the way his fingers were curled into the leg of his sweatpants, insecure, and shoulders hunched “no your not,” she thought before shaking her head.

Best to let it drop.

“I don’t know what you're apologizing for” she played stupid, something she was good at and not just because she was a blonde “if anything I should be the one to apologize” she turned and started making a cup of coffee for herself as Daryl’s sharp eyes burned a hole in her back “I know you worked late last night and I didn’t mean to wake you up, I just needed to get things straight in my head”

She held her mug in her hands, staring at the brown liquid and she saw the man move closer from the edge of her eye, bare feet silent on the hardwood floor “n’did ya?” he questioned as he stood by her elbow, making himself some coffee.

Beth looked up, staring at the side of his head for a moment before speaking “yeah” she said and quickly looked away before he caught her looking “I also figured out that you work too much”

The man snorted and his shoulders dropped from their hunched position “what else is new” he muttered before taking a sip of coffee and grunting in distaste, she looked just in time to see his face scrunched in distaste “ya still make shit coffee”

Beth couldn’t help it, she laughed, and from the faint smile on his face that was what he was aiming for.

Lancing at her wrist she found it was now 3:30 “I should really get going, I have papers to grade” she wasn’t excited about that though. He hummed and rose a brow to which she shrugged she was a low-grade teacher, sometimes things got old.

He shrugged himself then walked up to his room, he was coming back down just as she pulled her boots on “hey” she said as they walked out onto the porch where Daryl had dropped his boots because they were greasy “I’m going to the farm this weekend, daddy needs some help with the horses, why don’t you and Jude come out? You can take a break and do some hunting and I’m sure Jude would love it”

Daryl stopped, one of his boots half laced and he looked at her, surprised before ducking his head “ll’think bout it” he muttered but even with his head ducked and hair covering most of his face she could spot the flush rising on his neck.

She smiled “let me know and I’ll give you directions,” she said gently before turning away and walking toward her car “see ya later Daryl”

He rose his hand in a half-hearted wave before turning to his truck.

They drove in opposite directions, but Beth’s mind was working, putting together all the pieces she had found so far.

It was an interesting picture that was taking shape.


	9. Chapter 9

Friday evening came sooner than she expected and the text it brought with it was even more so. A simple question of where from the man of few words that had her smiling and typing out a response.

‘its on the edge of Greene county, about a 40min drive’ she sent then was halfway through typing out exact directions when she got a reply ‘green barn?’ she paused and thought for a second ‘close, it’s the next driveway, blue mailbox, 302’

“I know where I’ll be there’

She smiled at her phone before putting it away and finished packing her overnight bag, she probably needed to let her father know she would be bringing company but didn’t think too much about it at the moment, more interested in the thought of Jude’s face when the girl saw the horses.

It would be a good day.

~

Beth got a move on early in the morning and arrived at the farm just in time for breakfast around 8 AM, upon arriving she found that Patricia and Otis were both there along with jimmy which made her clench her teeth.

Beth didn’t have any real problems with jimmy, even though they used to date in high school and she was pretty sure he had cheated on her a few times.

Daddy had said they were cute together and she was sure the reason he was there was that he was trying to get them back together.

Her sister was also there and bouncing baby Hershey on her hip, taking the opportunity of the free babysitters while her husband Glenn was in Atlanta. Beth wasn’t really sure what they did for a living and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

Beth was kind of worried about when Daryl would show up as basically her entire family was at the farm instead of just her father and Patricia and Otis, but she figured she would get to that bridge when she got to it.

She wasn’t even entirely sure that the man would be showing up, sure he had asked for directions the previous night but that didn’t mean anything, there was no telling if he and his daughter would show up, or when.

At least not until 11:30 when she heard a truck crunching down the drive and turned to see the old familiar red truck.

Beth smiled as jimmy looked in confusion and asked her dad who that was while Daryl got out of the truck followed closely by Jude, he was looking around wearily while Jude looked around in amassment before spotting Beth’s approaching figure and bolted forward.

She caught the girl who was wearing shorts and a tank top and hugged her, lifting the girl even as her back complained at the girl's weight, she had no idea how Daryl did it so easily.

Ok, she had a vague idea, but she didn’t want to think about that right now.

“hello Jude” she greeted the girl before looking at the girl's father who was still looking around wearily, eyes mostly hidden under his hair “have any problems finding the place?” she questioned making his eyes flick to her.

She noticed once he did that he did relax a bit “Nah, sign out front made it pretty obvious” he muttered as Beth put Jude back on the ground, then his eyes snapped back up again as she heard gravel crunch behind her.

“It was put up for that exact reason” Beth glanced back at her father who had approached them, blue eyes a little sharper than usual but no less kind “trucks kept missing our driveway, especially in the spring when everything first blooms”

Daryl grunted in understanding and Beth was quick to introduce them “Daryl this is my daddy Hershel Greene, daddy, this is Daryl Dixon and his daughter Jude, I invited them out so he could do some hunting”

Hershel looked at her and the way she stayed between them and he smiled as if seeing something she couldn’t “I remember you saying something about that, how do you plan on doing your hunting Mr. Dixon?” he questioned.

He opened his mouth to reply but Jude, in her usual way jumped in and spoke instead “papa don’t like being called Mr. Dixon, it makes him feel old, also he brought his crossbow, he’s an awesome shot with it! He can hit anything from a long way off” she stopped when Daryl grunted and dropped his hand onto the girl's head.

The girl and Beth both looked at the man and Beth was pretty sure she saw his ears had gained a bit of color to them “s’nough” he muttered and Jude grinned and rubbed her head “well you can, v’seen ya do it when uncle rick got you that new one”

Daryl grunted again and Jude stopped talking and just giggled when Daryl pulled her close until he roughed up her hair “s’nough outta ya” she squealed and squirmed before getting out of his grip and wandering over to the side to look around.

He kept a close eye on her even if he didn’t look away from Beth’s father who seemed amused if the glance he shared with her was anything to go by “well then you're free to use my land just passed the orchard, it's fairly undeveloped and the edge of the property is easy enough to see”

Hershel held out his hand and Daryl hesitated for only a moment before reaching out to shake it “just be careful when you go out, people can and have gotten lost in these woods before”

“Papa won’t get lost, he’s a tracker” Jude popped back up again surprising everyone but Daryl “is that so” Hershel looked down at the girl, smiling gently at her and Jude nodded “would you like to look at our horses Jude?” he questioned making the girl's eyes go wide before looking up at Daryl “papa can I go look at the horses? Please?” she questioned.

Beth watched as the man looked at his daughter before glancing back up at Hershel who stood calmly as Daryl assessed him before looking back at his daughter and nodding “awesome” she said and moved away, following beths father toward the pen where a couple of horses were grazing

Without thinking Beth reached up and touched the man's arm, making him twitch and look at her “don’t worry, daddy’ll make sure nothing happens to her”

Daryl stared at her for a minute, watching her closely before nodding and moving to the back of the truck, grabbing a crossbow which he slung over his shoulder by the strap, then he opened the driver's side door of the truck and retrieved a knife from below the driver's seat which he placed into a sheath at his hip, strapping it in before looking at her.

“Follow me and I’ll get you set up with a horse” she turned away even as she saw his brows furrow “don’t need that” he muttered even as he followed her to the barn “well if you do get lucky and bag yourself a deer how do you plan on bringing it back?”

She glanced back at the man who was watching the ground “carry it” he muttered again and she snorted “and if you’re at the edge of the property? That’s a good couple of miles and even a small doe is a good hundred pounds”

They stepped out of the bright sunlight into the dull barn and she blinked to adjust her eyes walking to the first stall and petting the horse that stood there cooing at it as it snorted at her “besides Nellie needs a workout, don’t you girl”

The horse snorted again, and she heard Daryl snort behind her as well “ya jus want me ta do yer work for ya” she shrugged and smiled at him over her shoulder while unlatching the horses stall “maybe that to” she teased.

Tacking up the horse was silent business after that and once it was done the man took the reins and they walked outside “the orchard is out that way” she pointed to the area behind the barn “Jude’s always bragging about your tracking skills so you should be able to pick up a trail from there” Daryl grunted, facing the horse and double-checking the tack.

Beth opened her mouth to speak again but the sound of steps and the stiffening of Daryl’s spine made her pause “Beth” she turned and looked at Jimmy who was staring at Daryl’s back rather than at her “you dad wanted me to come to get you, ask you for help with the horses”

Raising a brow Beth rose her eyes from the man to look at her father, kneeling beside Jude who was giggling and feeding one of the friendlier goats that her father had recently acquired then she turned her eyes to the round pen she could just barely see across the yard where Otis was currently leading a horse with slow words and gentle gestures.

Her lips thinning and turning down at a corner she looked at jimmy who was still staring at the back of Daryl’s head and hummed “tell daddy I’ll be there in a minute” she said

Jimmy looked at her and frowned “he sounded like he really needed you” the man reached out to take her hand or grab her arm as he used to have a habit of doing when they were teenagers but she moved it easily out of range “jimmy, I said, I will be there in a minute”

The young man looked like he wanted to argue but Daryl’s voice stopped him “s’that important, go see what ya old man needs” he turned his head, his eyes cold as they landed on jimmy who paled and took a step back “I’ll be fine” he muttered and met her eyes when she glanced back at him.

Forcing a smile she nodded even though she could tell he knew it was fake “alright, well good luck Daryl” she said and took a few steps away as he mounted the horse “don’t need no luck girl” he said which made her laugh, her smile becoming more genuine “whatever you say, boy” she teased, making the man scowl but she saw it was to hide amusement.

He rode off in the direction she had pointed and she turned toward jimmy her smile changing into a frown “alright, what was that about?” she challenged the boy she used to think she loved.

He seemed surprised by her challenge and held up his hands “you dad sent me to”

She cut him off before he could finish “don’t lie to me, that worked when we were kids it doesn’t work now” she put on her disappointed teacher's voice and put her hands on her hips glaring at jimmy until he sighed “do you know who that is?” he questioned, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the house until she yanked herself free.

“I know exactly who that is jimmy, that’s Daryl” he snorted “yeah, Daryl Dixon, don’t you remember all the shit we heard about in school? Let alone half the rumors circling around town”

Beth held up her hand “Stop, if you know what’s good for you then you won't say another word or drag his name through the mud, Daryl Dixon has been nothing but good to me and to his daughter and I am tired of hearing people badmouth him”

“don’t you think this badmouthing is happening for a reason? What did he do to keep you from seeing this? What’s going on between you two” she shook her head and walked away “nothing is going on between me and Daryl, and last I looked nothing was going on between us either”

Jimmy sighed and stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks “I know, I’m just worried about you”

Beth let loose a sigh of her own but hers was born of frustration “jimmy, you cheated on me in high school and now you work on my daddy’s farm, you don’t get to be worried about me, especially when there’s nothing to be worried about”

With that, she stepped about the man and walked toward her father who noticed something wrong but didn’t say anything “hey Jude” the girl turned around, her face split on a smile and a piece of hay stuck in her hair somehow and Beth smiled for real “want to watch me train horses?”

The girl jumped up “yeah” she said and grabbed beths hand, pulling her more than leading her toward the round pen where Otis was still leading the dappled stallion “ready to work kiddo?” he called from inside the pen and she grinned “you know it uncle Otis”

It was going to be a fun day.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning that I don't know how to train horses and my stuff shouldn't be seen as advice on how to train or deal with situations presented, talk to a real horse trainer as I am sure Google isn't a great one.
> 
> aside from that this has no warnings I know of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS JUST IN! IM ALIVE! but school is draining me dry, I'm suffering burnout pretty hard right now but I wanted to get this chapter up for you guys. I dont know what my posting schedual is going to be like but I am going to tru and get the next one up on time.
> 
> Again if you've got any questions or anything hit me up on tumblr or even instagram.
> 
> enjoy this chapter y'all!  
> RD

Daryl found the orchard easy enough and saw some deer bolt into the bush, he knew from that alone this would be a good hunting spot but his heart wasn’t really in it as his mind was elsewhere.

It wasn’t that he was worried about Judith, he knew just from looking at Hershel that the man was honest and genuinely good, it was the same thing he had seen in rick when they first met three years ago so he knew his daughter was in good hands.

What had his mind drifting was Beth and that guy that had walked up to her and tried to get her away from him.

In his life Daryl had seen people talking to each other about him behind his back, as a kid, he had been glad for it, especially after his mother died, it was fewer people he had to deal with.

He always thought people were stupid, never mind that they thought the same of him on the academic level especially after he dropped out of high school, but he had never seen a grown adult trying to usher another one away from him.

At least not from up close.

Of course, when he went to bars when he was younger, he’d see different women stopping their friends from approaching him, staying as far away from him as possible, and sometimes even calling the bouncer over because they didn’t feel ‘safe’ with him around.

Never mind that he would never hurt a woman and most of the fights he’d gotten into he hadn’t even started.

Beth never acted like that around him and from what she’d told him the other day had even jumped to his defense when a coworker started badmouthing him, and from the way she had just talked to the young man it was obvious she was doing it again.

Daryl didn’t really care what the guy did if he was being honest, it was Beth that was throwing him through a loop, the way she acted around him, around his daughter, the way she gently removed herself so he could freak out alone when he got stuck in his head.

He just couldn’t understand the way she acted toward him and as he rode around that’s what he was trying to sort out in his head, at least for the first few hours, by the third hour his aimless riding had caused all the game to leave the area excluding a few squirrels which he wasn’t about to shoot.

Squirrel was always too chewy and didn’t have enough meat for the possibility of a broken bolt. Sure if it was the end of the world he wouldn’t mind but for a standard hunting trip? Let the furry rats alone.

Besides the fuckers ate dog shit, he wasn’t about the ingest anything that had that as a staple in their diet.

So he returned to the farm with a swirling mind and empty hands.

Well, not quite empty as he snagged an apple from a tree as he passed and munched on it, finishing it just before he got back to the barn.

He tied up Nellie, removing her tack and putting her back into her stall before walking out. Most of the residents were gathered around the large white pen where dust was raising.

He spotted his daughter on the top rail, cheering at whatever was causing the dust to rise inside. Vaguely curious he walked up and looked through the slats and his mind went silent as blonde hair shone in the sun.

~

Beth was planted firmly on the back of a tan horse with a pale mane. The horse’s hooves were kicking up dust as it tried to throw her off of its back, but she was holding on leaning down close to its body and holding the reins tight.

This wasn’t the first time she had ridden a horse that decided it didn’t want her on its back anymore so she knew what she was doing and how to keep the horse mostly under control as it threw its tempter tantrum which was exactly what this was.

A temper tantrum because Beth wasn’t letting him have his head.

The horse was saddle broken, but he didn’t realize that the person on his back did indeed know better than him.

Pulling the reins to the side she forced him to start turning in circles, stopping his bucking and squealing as he had to focus on not falling “that’s it” she encouraged then lessened her grip and pulled the other way, making him change the direction of his circles until finally she stopped and the horse froze.

With balked legs he lowered his head and blew out a breath through his lips, snorting before giving a full body shake and relaxing “good boy” she praised as he lipped at the dirt he had disturbed.

Reaching out she patted his sweaty neck, scratching under pale strands of his mane before sitting straight in the saddle and clucking “walk-on” she directed.

The horse snorted again but slowly he started walking.

She put him up into a trot inside the pen before pulling him back to a walk and then finally to a stop and she pushed her hair back from her face and looked at the gathered eyes the largest of which belonged to Jude who was staring.

“That was awesome” the girl said making Beth smile “it’s nothing, you just have to let em throw their tantrums sometimes” she reached out to pat the stallion’s neck again and heard the horse huff.

Shaking her head and knowing that while he was behaving now it would still take a bit of work, she nudged the horse to walk toward the gate of the pen of which her father was opening.

Looking around she found Daryl standing just a short distance away and he was watching her with an odd expression but the moment she saw it the look was gone again. She covered her moment of surprise with a grin and threw her leg over the horses back, dismounting easily.

“the mighty hunter returns,” she said and approached the horse following along slowly at her back as she still held his reins “any luck?” she questioned and he shook his head “Nah, saw bit but ey took’ff for I could aim, ain’t sure where yer land ends” he muttered, he couldn’t quite look at her in the face so she knew something was going on in his head.

Tilting her head, she shrugged “I can show you easy enough if your up for another ride”

That made him look at her and raise a brow “me?” he seemed god smacked and looked between her and the pen where the dust was still settling making her giggle.

“It's getting a bit late to go out again today" Hershel appeared at her side “why not come again tomorrow? It will be good training for buck and you might just get a buck on the way back"

Daryl and Beth both looked at each other, she could see him thinking and expected him to deny it but then he shrugged “f’ya don’t mind” he said looking at Hershel who smiled “not at all, you're doing me a service after all. Now, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Beth spotted the moment that Daryl left his comfort zone and he shook his head and shifted from foot to foot “nah, need’t head back for’t gets t’late” Beth watched as her father's eyes lit up with understanding, the older man spotting something she couldn’t see and he smiled softly “alright, the offer’s there if you want to take it”

And with those words he removed himself from the situation, walking back toward the house and Otis took buck, leading the stallion toward the barn so she could walk Daryl and Jude to their truck.

Jude paused as they reached the truck and turned to face Beth “this place is amazing” she said and then lunged forward to hug her. Beth smiled and put her hands on the girl's shoulders “I’m glad you liked it Jude” she gently pushed the girl back and smiled while crouching down to be eye level “remember both you and your dad are welcome here alright?”

Beth glanced up at Daryl who was facing away, paused in the process of putting away his crossbow “not just cause you're doing us a favor” lowering her eyes back to the girl, Beth found that Jude was smirking.

Not questioning the expression Beth pushed herself up “are you both going to be coming again tomorrow?” she questioned and saw Daryl turn, mouth opening to answer the question she posed at him but Jude spoke before he could “I cant, uncle Ricks taking me and RJ to the museum”

She saw Daryl roll his eyes and glance at his daughter “oh yeah? That sounds fun” Beth said and Jude shrugged “it has a farming exabit and some seed collection he's excited about, RJ wanted me to go so he wasn’t bored” Daryl snorted and Jude glanced at her father in embarrassment “knew it wasn’t cause ya was interested” he said

Jude ducked her head “oh hush papa” she smirked “we all do stuff for people we like” he shoved at his daughter playfully making the girl giggle and turn toward the truck, climbing in while Beth faced Daryl “I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked

The man glanced away, shoulders hunching a bit and he nodded “ain't got nuttin else ta do” he muttered and she grinned, folding her hands and glancing away “well, you could go look at the seeds” the man snorted and a hand gently shoving at her surprised her, making her step back as the man muttered for her to shut up.

She laughed and grinned at the man who flushed slightly, especially as she took a step closer and bumped him with her hip “go on and get out of here Mr. Dixon” she teased gently making the man glance at her “and drive safe”

He ducked his head slightly and grunted, still glancing at her from under his hair and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but then she saw his eyes glance over her shoulder and he stopped himself.

Beth looked back and saw jimmy watching them from the barn with his hands on his hips “see ya tomorrow, Mrs. Greene” Daryl said, making her look back at him and force a smile onto her face even though she was angry at jimmy for stopping whatever Daryl had been about to say.

She stepped back to get out of the way so Daryl could turn his truck around and waved back at Jude who nearly shoved her entire shoulder out of the window, laughing at the girl's antics she turned and didn’t spare jimmy another glance, even when he called her name.

**Author's Note:**

> hit me up on Tumblr and I got no problem talking about this AU with ya. =D
> 
> hope you enjoyed!  
> RD


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